DVD Review: Drive In Collection – Vixens of Kung Fu & Oriental Blue

DVD Reviews, Reviews

The first thing you have to lose when you enter the world of exploitative and erotic cinema is a sense of decency. You don’t worry if you’re upsetting sensibilities. The greatest concern is if you’re properly cashing in on a hot genre. In the early 1970s, those cats were Kung Fu Fighting. The movie theaters were enjoying a wave of Chop Socky episodes from Bruce Lee exploding in Enter the Dragon. TV was dominated by David Carradine roaming the wild west in Kung Fu. Carl Douglas’ “Kung Fu Fighting” wasn’t merely a hit song, but a declaration of a new lifestyle. Naturally the grubby Times Square cinemas needed movies to reflect the martial arts that were sweeping the country. Director David Milling answered that call by cranking out two films in 1975 with Vixens of Kunk Fu and Oriental Blue. Neither of these two X-rated films could be considered the real deal by Hong Kong standards. Few of the popeyes and creepers lurking in those rundown theaters were sticklers for authenticity.

Vixens of Kung Fu empowers a woman with ancient Asian arts. A prostitute named Yan (Bree Anthony) is roaming through a rural setting when she’s attacked by three men. One of them is legend of adult cinema Jamie Gillis (Opening of Misty Beethoven). Yan is left for dead and somehow ends up on a beach. There’s she’s rescued by C.J. Laing and taken back to her Kung Fu lair. There she is nursed and romanced back to health. She regains her confidence by learning martial arts moves in natural settings. This leads to a wide variety of romantic situations and other Chinese body moving secrets. Finally her and the girls regain their sense of dignity by beating up Yang, a kung fu master. They leave him in the woods after they’ve had their ways with him. He seeks to learn a mystical style from Ha Tien Sau (Peonies Jung) during her break at a Chinese restaurant. He needs one last showdown with Yan. There’s more than sweeping the leg in their climatic battle. This is a film that does its best to make the woods near New York City look like a Chinese forest. The outdoor settings inspires the cast to let loose their black belts and make the nature scene.

Oriental Blue shades the shadows of Manhattan’s Chinatown. Peonies Jung is back again with a bigger role. Instead of working at a Chinese restaurant, she’s operating a human trafficking operation out of the basement. She has a major order for girls that will be working at bordellos around the globe. Jung has a secret that makes her victims become willing participants. She also has Jamie Gillis working as her main kidnapper. C.J. Laing is her willing assistant in helping break the new girls and please old business associates. Jong has a good system and technique to transform women into being her willing slaves. Things are going swimmingly until Gillis nabs Bree Anthony. He’s not ready to turn her over to Jung. This isn’t good since the deadline is approaching. Jung does not want to ruin her reputation by not fulfilling the order. This leads to a major confrontation between her and Gillis. The film has a very unique soundtrack which showed how brazen Milling was when it came to musical selections.

Both Vixens of Kung Fu and Oriental Blue are roughies and not soft cuddly adult flicks. Even when Gillis plays a softer character in Blue, he’s still got a nasty edge to him. These are not the kind of films that Travis Bickle could bring a date to see. There are moments that make you ponder what sort of couple would use this to spice up their romantic life. The two films do play well together since they appear to have been shot in the same week. They have a large overlap in cast. Jamie Gillis haircut is identical in the two films. It’s easy to image these were playing as a double feature against the marquee advertising Return of the Dragon next door. Both films are so wrong in their approaches to Kung Fu and Chinese culture that they become creepily fascinating.

The video is 1.78:1 anamorphic for both films. The transfers make these movies look better than when they originally played the creepy theaters around Times Square. The audio for both movies is Dolby Digital 2.0 mono. The audio has a rough quality to it. The soundtrack sound fine enough for the action.

There are no bonus features.

Drive In Collection – Vixens of Kung Fu & Oriental Blue is a double dose of barely Asian influenced erotica. The double feature is a perfect example of exploitation cinema doing its best to make cash on a craze. The films are not made for those easily offended by violence and cultural misconceptions.

Vinegar Syndrome presents Drive In Collection – Vixens of Kung Fu & Oriental Blue. Directed by: David Milling. Starring: Jamie Gillis, C.J. Laing, Peonies Jong and Bree Anthony. Boxset Contents: 2 movies on 1 DVD. Rated: X. Released: July 9, 2013. Available at Amazon.com.

Joe Corey is the writer and director of "Danger! Health Films" currently streaming on Night Flight and Amazon Prime. He's the author of "The Seven Secrets of Great Walmart People Greeters." This is the last how to get a job book you'll ever need. He was Associate Producer of the documentary "Moving Midway." He's worked as local crew on several reality shows including Candid Camera, American's Most Wanted, Extreme Makeover Home Edition and ESPN's Gaters. He's been featured on The Today Show and CBS's 48 Hours. Dom DeLuise once said, "Joe, you look like an axe murderer." He was in charge of research and programming at the Moving Image Archive.